Friday, 20 April 2012

The woman in the picture below is very dangerous to have dealings with. She appears at first as very little and weak, but soon starts growing and can reach more than an XXXL size many times multiplied. Her name is Eris, which means Discord, and her sole occupation is to make people fight, almost always with tragic results. She is so good at her job that Mars, the god of war, fondly calls her his sister.

The most notorious bit of trouble Eris caused was a conflict known as the Trojan War. It was between the Greeks and the Trojans and the latter lost and saw their city razed and burnt to cinders. Today I will explain how and why this war began. This story is known as the Myth of the Apple of Discord.

Many, many years ago, the wedding of the year was that of Peleus and Thetis. Everybody who was anybody was invited to it, and all were very pleased to be so. The goddess of discord, however, was itching for a fight because she had not been asked to attend. She had been left out because she was notorious for causing trouble wherever she went and was far from being the kind of guest you would want at one of your parties. But Eris was not the type to shrivel up when being snubbed and didn’t hesitate to crash the party. She made a grand entrance right in the middle of the wedding banquet and threw a golden apple at those present. It was inscribed with the word “Kallisti,” which in Greek means “For the Most Beautiful.”

Unfortunately, three of the goddesses present were drawn out. They took Discord’s challenge seriously and each of them simply had to be the one to take the apple home. Zeus, king of the gods, knew the three were very arrogant and was aware how vengeful and dangerous they could be if they were crossed. He did not want to have to face the consequences of making this decision himself, so he decided to name some unfortunate mortal judge in his stead. The poor fellow he chose for this office was a young and handsome Trojan prince named Paris, who was at that moment frolicking on Mount Ida with his wife, a nymph named Oenone.

Zeus sent his messenger, the wing-heeled Mercury, a god we will have more to say about next month, to pass the hot potato – in this case the golden apple – to Paris, while the three goddesses bathed at the Idan Spring to make themselves more beautiful before the Trojan youth passed judgement.

﻿Paris examined each of the goddesses in private, and while he was at it, they tried to bribe him. Hera, queen of the gods and model of Greek wives, offered him political power. She could make him ruler of mighty kingdoms. Athena, goddess of intelligence, offered to teach him the strategies needed to be always victorious in battle. Aphrodite, goddess of love, said she would give him the most beautiful woman in the world for a lover in exchange of the apple.

Paris never explained his choice, so we cannot be sure of his reasons for selecting Aphrodite, but it was to her that he gave the golden apple. She kept her promise and made Helen of Sparta, the most beautiful mortal woman in the world, fall in love with Paris. Helen left her Greek husband, Menelaus, and eloped with Paris, who also abandoned his wife Oenone to be with Helen.

As was to be expected, Hera and Athena were far from pleased at the outcome of this contest. To punish Paris, they urged the Greek Menelaus to stir up his compatriots and attack Troy. And that is how the most famous war in antiquity began. One of the casualties of this war was Achilles, the son of Peleus and Thetis. the couple that had provoked the wrath of Eris by not inviting her to their wedding. Thus did Discord avenge this offense.

Thanks to one of Nausica's findings, you can click on "The Fall of Troy," and see how the war Discord provoked with her apple went. I'll bet the Coppola who was in charge of the music was related to the Hollywood clan.